062 


<>JHIBRARY0/; 


%JHAiNa3Vft 


RY0A 


Ofifc 


\\\[  l' 


3.  ^lOS-ANGfl 

cp  a?    -^^- 

T1  O 

*">  — 

^  =2 

=s  «-» 

O  u_ 

^  C? 

%WAJNfl] 


=n 


g    3 


Stack 
•    "7  Annex 


5D19062 


FOR  THE  LOVE  OF  WOMAN/ 


AN   ADDRESS   IN  THE   RODEF  SHALOM  TEMPLE 
PITTSBURGH,  SUNDAY,   DECEMBER   15,    1912. 


Scripture  Reading:  Proverbs  xxxi. 


Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands;   and  her  own  works  will 
praise  her  in  the  gates.      (Proverbs  xxxi.,  31.) 


The  world  moves.  It  travels  through  space  without 
jar  or  creak.  So  rapid  is  its  motion  that  we  are  not  con- 
scious of  it.  It  moves  through  space  unsuspended  by 
cord  or  bar,  and  unsustained  by  platform  or  scaffold. 
Imagine  the  great  chandelier  yonder,  suddenly  deprived 
of  the  chain  which  binds  it  to  the  roof,  yet  continuing  to 
remain  unmoved.  Thus  stands  the  earth ;  yet  it  falls 
not  through  space,  but  moves  harmonious  with  law.  It 
is,  however,  always  well  to  remember,  as  a  scientific 
fact  and  as  a  moral  ideal,  that  the  earth  moves. 


*By  the  Rev.  J.  Leonard  Levy,  Rabbi  of  the  Congregation. 
Stenographically  reported  by  Caroline  Loewenthal. 


Opposing  Forces  Harmonized. 

Modern  scientists  tells  us  that  this  state  of  stable 
equilibrium  is  maintained  by  two  forces,  the  one,  centri- 
fugal, and  the  other  centripetal.  The  centrifugal  force 
pulls  the  earth  downward,  tending  at  all  times  toward 
dispersion  and  disruption.  The  centripetal  force  draws 
the  earth  toward  the  sun,  tending  to  unification  and 
symmetry.  The  nice  balancing  of  the  dispersing  and 
unifying  forces  causes  our  earth  to  move  in  its  orbit  with 
perfect  regularity  and  with  ceaseless  harmony. 

These  two  forces,  centrifugal  and  centripetal,  find 
their  reproduction  in  human  society.  Man  may  be 
called  the  centrifugal  force;  his  tendency  is  to  roam,  to 
wander,  to  disperse.  Woman  may  be  regarded  as  the 
centripetal  force;  her  tendency  is  to  remain  at  home,  to 
conserve,  to  unify,  to  unite.  Wherever  these  two  human 
forces  meet  and  harmonize  symmetrically  one  with  the 
other,  we  find  that  nice  balancing  of  power  which  we  call 
civilized  society. 

Social  Forces  Harmonized. 

Rut  for  woman,  man  would  still  be  found  roaming 
hither  and  thither.  A  nomad,  he  would  never  have 
changed  his  shiftless  habits.  But  for  woman  man  would 
still  be  wandering  in  the  equatorial  regions  where 
the  human  race,  probably,  had  its  origin.  The  union  of 
the  centrifugal  and  centripetal  forces  of  human  society 
has  resulted  in  checking  the  tendency  of  man  to  roam 
and  of  woman  to  remain  permanently  settled  in  one 


place.  The  fine  play  of  both  these  forces  has  effected 
what  we  call  civilization.  Civilization  is  not  what  man 
might  have  designed  it  to  be,  but  what  woman  has  made 
it.  The  treatment  accorded  to  woman  by  man  is  the 
barometer  of  civilization.  Wherever  woman  is  respected, 
treated  with  honor,  -accorded  her  rights,  we  have  a  high 
grade  of  civilization.  Wherever  she  is  treated  with 
brutality,  regarded  as  the  inferior,  forced  to  remain  at 
all  times  within  the  home,  we  have  a  low  type  of  civiliza- 
tion. 

Israel's  Ideal  of  Womanhood. 

Among  the  savages  in  the  interior  of  Africa  today, 
woman  still  represents  the  simple  centripetal  force.  She 
is  compelled  to  stay  at  home  while  the  warrior  goes  out 
to  conquer.  Modern  conditions  among  the  African 
negroes  are  practically  the  same  as  those  prevailing  al- 
most everywhere  in  the  days  of  the  ancient  Hebrews. 
The  African  negro  has  changed  very,  very  little,  except 
where  he  has  come  in  contact  with  such  noble  men  as 
Livingstone  and  Stanley ;  thus  we  have  a  living  witness 
of  conditions  prevailing  among  human  beings  in  primi- 
tive society.  The  Hebrew  people  were,  in  progressive 
social  institutions,  the  most  advanced  of  all  the  people 
of  antiquity.  If  it  is  true  that  the  respect  accorded  wo- 
man is  the  barometer  of  civilization,  Israel  must  have 
already  attained  a  very  high  grade  of  civilization,  far 
excelling  that  of  any  other  ancient  people  and,. in  many 
respects,  far  surpassing  that  of  many  nations  of  modern 
times. 


Woman's  Position  in  Israel. 

For  in  ancient  Israel  woman  had  rights  in  law, 
could  own  property  in  her  own  name,  and  could  occupy 
the  most  exalted  public  positions.  Miriam  was  a  prophet- 
ess ;  so,  too,  was  Huldah.  A  woman  was  selected  to  be 
a  judge  in  Israel,  and  the  name  Deborah  still  suggests 
that  of  "the  mother  in  Israel."  At  a  most  important 
>tage  of  the  history  of  the  early  Hebrews,  a  woman, 
Jochebed,  defied  the  law  of  the  tyrant  and  saved  the  in- 
valuable life  of  her  Hebrew  child,  the  coming  deliverer 
of  his  enslaved  people;  and  it  was  a  woman,  Miriam, 
si-ter  of  this  child,  Moses,  who  protected  the  babe  thus 
saved  from  death. 

At  the  most  crucial  period  of  the  history  of  the  Jew- 
i>h  nation  it  was  a  woman  who  declared  that  the  book 
found  in  the  house  of  God,  in  the  year  621  B.  C.  E.,  was 
a  genuine  copy  of  the  ancient  law  of  Israel.  Not  until 
King  Josiah  had  received  from  the  lips  of  Huldah  the 
prophetess  the  assurance  that  the  book  found  by  Hilkiah 
the  priest,  and  read  to  him  by  Shaphan  the  scribe,  was 
genuine,  would  he  accept  their  statement.  And  this 
book  found  in  the  house  of  God,  in  the  year  621  B.  C.  E., 
which  is  no\\  identified  with  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy, 
and  which  sanctified  the  great  prophetic  reformation  in 
Palestine,  owed  its  early  recognition  to  woman's  learning 
and  influence. 

I  need  scarcely  remind  you  of  the  honor  accorded 
the  name  of  Ruth  in  Jewish  Scripture,  nor  need  I  tell  you 
that  the  pious  in  Israel  still  bless  their  daughters  in  the 


name  of  Sarah,  Rebecca,  Rachel  and  Leah.  In  the 
Talmud  we  find  recorded  the  names  of  women  who 
have  come  down  to  us  as  rabbinically  learned,  and  I 
need  not  tell  you,  who  know  it  so  well,  that  the  respect 
which  the  Jewish  home  engenders  for  parent,  for  hearth 
and  for  God,  has  been,  in  the  last  analysis,  the  product 
of  the  Jewish  woman's  reverence  for  self  and  God. 

Man's  Mean  Attitude  Toward  Woman. 

That  woman  has  played  the  most  important  part  in 
civilization  has  not  been  generally  recognized,  nor  has 
her  treatment  at  the  hands  of  man  always  been  the  most 
gentle,  the  most  kindly,  or  the  most  respectful.  In  a 
recent  book,  "Woman  and  Social  Progress,"  Dr.  Scott 
Nearing,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  says  in  the 
opening  pages  that  had  one,  a  century  ago,  consulted 
an  encyclopedia  with  a  view  of  gaining  some  information 
on  the  subject  of  woman,  he  would  have, found,  under 
the  word  "woman,"  this  definition,  "Woman,  the  female 
of  man;  see  Man!"  This  is  so  true  to  life  that  the  fact 
is  stranger  than  fiction.  Woman  has  rarely  been  con- 
sidered as  an  individual  unit,  and  still  more  rarely  has 
she  been  regarded  as  self-owning.  She  was  held  to  have 
been  made  from  man's  rib  and  as  still  belonging  to  him 
in  every  sense. 

In  the  New  Testament. 

When,  in  due  time,  reaction  set  in  against  the  liberal 
attitude  of  Israel's  leaders,  a  marked  change  took  place. 
The  backward  swing  of  the  pendulum  brought  with  it  a 


narrowing  conception  of  woman's  place  in  society.  It 
is  surprising,  though  thoroughly  comprehensible  upon 
careful  thought,  that  Paul  of  Tarsus  should  have  de- 
livered himself,  in  the  New  Testament,  of  such  unamia- 
ble  utterances  as:  "Let  the  woman  learn  in  all  silence, 
with  all  subjection.  I  suffer  not  woman  to  teach,  nor 
to  usurp  authority  over  the  husband,  but  to  be  silent." 
(1  Timothy  ii.,  11,  12.)  "Let  your  women  keep  silence 
in  the  churches,  for  it  is  not  permitted  unto  them  to 
speak ;  but  they  are  commanded  to  be  under  obedience, 
as  also  saith  the  law;  and  if  they  will  learn  anything, 
let  them  ask  their  husbands  at  home,  for  it  is  a  shame 
for  women  to  speak  in  the  church,"  (1  Corinthians  xiv., 
34,  35.) 

In  the  Church  Fathers. 

Less  complimentary  still  is  Tertullian,  the  eminent 
Church  father,  when  he  says  of  woman,  "Thou  art  the 
one  who  first  tasted  of  the  forbidden  fruit  and  trans- 
gressed the  laws  of  God;  thou  hast  caused  to  err  the 
man,  whom  even  the  devil  did  not  dare  to  approach.  For 
thy  sake.  O  woman,  Jesus  had  to  die."  But  worse  re- 
mains to  be  said ;  for  this  same  church  authority  says. 
(De  Resurrectione,  Ivii.),  In  the  resurrection  "all  shall 
lose  their  blemishes,  the  lame  shall  walk  and  the  blind 
shall  see,  and  women  shall  arise  from  the  dead, — as  men." 

St.  John  Chrysostom  is  no  more  polite  for  he  says, 
"What  is  woman  but  an  enemy  of  friendship,  an  un- 
avoidable punishment,  a  necessary  evil,  a  natural  tempta- 
tion, a  desirable  affliction,  a  constantly  flowing  source 


of  tears,  a  wicked  work  of  nature  covered  with  shining 
varnish."  In  a  work  called  "The  Witch  Hammer,"  which 
appeared  in  the  fifteenth  century  with  the  sanction  of 
Pope  Innocent  VIII,  the  author  says,  "Formed  from  a 
crooked  rib,  woman's  entire  spiritual  nature  has  been 
distorted  and  inclined  more  toward  sin  than  virtue." 
(For  these  quotations  Cf.  loc.  cit.  pp.  1-7.)  We  need 
not  be  surprised,  therefore,  to  find  the  marriage  service 
in  the  Episcopal  Church  pledging  the  wife  "to  love, 
honor  and  obey"  her  husband,  though  I  am  delighted 
to  think  that  the  woman  has  a  conception  of  obedience 
somewhat  synonymous  with,  and  analogous  to,  rebel- 
lion. 

Nietzsche's  Estimate  of  Woman. 

Misogynists  have  been  found  in  all  ages  and  all  are 
not  yet  dead.  Some  quite  agree  even  with  the  late  Fried- 
rich  Wilhelm  Nietzsche  who,  in  his  "Also  Sprach  Zara- 
thustra,"  says :  "Let  woman  be  a  toy,  pure  and  delicate 
like  a  jewel.  Man's  happiness  is  'I  will.'  Woman's  hap- 
piness is  'He  will.'  Thou  goest  to  woman?  Remember 
thy  whip !  Women  are  still  always  cats  and  birds,  or 
in  the  best  case,  cows."  I  ought  to  remind  you  that 
Nietzsche  died  a  raving  maniac,  and  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  he  should  have  been  placed  under  restraint  long 
before  he  was  confined  in  the  lunatic  asylum. 

Brutality  Toward  Women. 

If  you  read  the  works  written  by  the  master  sociolo- 
gists you  will  find  that  there  has  rarely  been  anything 


more  brutal  in  all  history  than  man's  treatment  of  wo- 
man. If  you  could  compress  into  one  single  word  all  the 
horrors  of  the  Roman  arena,  all  the  brutalities  of  the  In- 
quisition, all  the  barbarities  of  Smithfield,  and  all  the 
shame  of  St.  Barthlomew's  Night;  if  you  could,  in  a 
word,  unite  into  one  single  expression  everything  that 
means  bestiality,  animalism,  savagery  and  barbarism, 
you  would  find  a  term  which  might  feebly  describe  the 
manner  in  which  man  has  treated  woman  in  the  history 
of  the  human  race. 

Herbert  Spencer  sadly  tells  us:  "In  the  history  of 
humanity  as  written,  the  saddest  part  concerns  the  treat- 
ment of  women;  and  had  we  before  us  its  unwritten  his- 
tory we  should  find  this  part  still  sadder.  I  say  the 
saddest  part  because,  though  there  have  been  many 
things  more  conspicuously  dreadful, — cannibalism,  the 
torturings  of  prisoners,  the  sacrificings  of  victims  to 
ghosts  and  gods, — these  have  been  but  occasional ; 
whereas  the  brutal  treatment  of  woman  has  been  uni- 
versal and  constant  and  almost  beyond  imagination." 

The  Male  Animal  and  Man. 

As  we  read  Natural  History,  as  we  consider  the  liv- 
ing specimens  in  zoological  gardens,  or  as  we  hear  the 
stories  of  the  men  who  hunt  great  game,  we  learn,  in 
almost  every  case,  that  the  male  of  the  animal  is  ex- 
ceedingly careful  of  the  female,  that  he  surrounds  her 
with  every  attention,  except  it  may  be  among  the  most 
degraded  forms  of  animal  life  and  which  we  may  call, 
as  a  class,  curs.  The  pure  blooded  male  is  almost  as 


gentle  to  his  female  as  a  modern,  civilized  mother  is  to 
her  little  babe.  It  has  been  the  peculiar  virtue  and  at- 
tribute of  man  to  be  the  only  male  who,  throughout  all 
eras,  has  oppressed  and  brutalized  his  companion,  the 
female.  (Cf.  "Pure  Sociology,"  by  L.  F.  Ward.) 

Primitive  Woman. 

Now,  for  the  love  of  woman,  the  time  has  surely 
come  when  we  should  set  a  different  estimate  upon  her 
to  whom  mankind  owe  practically  every  phase  of  civili- 
zation. When  we  consider  primitive  society,  we  find 
that  there  was  no  occupation,  except  killing,  which  did 
not  come  within  woman's  sphere.  To  murder,  to  shoot, 
to  kill,  to  go  out  to  war,  to  overcome  the  enemy  and  the 
ravages  of  wild  beasts,  or  to  slaughter  these  wild  beasts, 
—these  were  man's  occupation ;  but  every  occupation 
that  has  saved  man  for  this  world  has  been  the  product 
of  woman's  self-sacrifice  and  devotion.  For  example, 
in  the  very  beginnings  of  tribal  existence,  when  the  man 
did  kill  the  beast,  it  was  woman  who  would  cut  it,  and 
prepare  it  for  meat  for  the  family.  Man  would  march 
out  to  conquer,  but  the  woman  would  stay  at  home  and 
weave  clothing  for  the  man  who  had  to  venture  into 
climates  that  might  adversely  affect  his  health.  Thus  it 
comes  that  the  word  "wife"  is  identified  with  "weaving." 
"Weib"  wife,  and  "weben,"  to  weave,  are  unquestion- 
ably derived  one  from  the  other. 

Her  Occupation. 

Woman  not  only  wove    the  wool    of    the    animals 
9 


killed  by  her  husband,  but  she  also  skinned  them,  made 
the  skins  ready  for  wear,  and  likewise  prepared  them  to 
receive  those  marks  and  impressions  which  have  given 
us  a  clue  to  primitive  culture.  It  was  woman  who  used 
the  clays  of  the  earth  and  first  made  the  pottery  which 
has  since  developed  into  objects  priceless  in  value.  She 
was  the  bearer  of  every  burden ;  but  the  beast  which 
was  introduced  as  a  helpmate  was  treated  by  the  man 
with  infinitely  more  consideration  than  he  ever  showed 
the  wife  of  his  bosom. 

She  put  up  and  took  down  the  tent,  she  provided 
and  protected  the  utensils  of  the  hut  and  she,  from  her 
body,  nourished  the  children  as  they  came  year  after 
year,  often  nursing  at  the  same  time  two,  and  sometimes 
three  children,  born  one  year  after  another,  from  the 
supply  of  her  own  physical  nourishment,  until  often 
child  and  mother  succumbed.  You  have  heard  of  many 
great  benefits  endowed  upon  man  by  his  fellowman. 
You  have  read  of  many  discoveries  and  inventions  which 
lie  has  made.  But,  if  you  will  but  think  for  a  moment, 
you  will  probably  agree  with  me  that  no  discovery  which 
man  has  made  for  society's  welfare  compares  with  that 
made  by  primitive  woman  when  she  showed  that  the 
milk  of  the  animal  might  sustain  human  life.  No  greater 
discovery  than  this  was  ever  made  in  the  world's  history, 
and  this  was  made  by  woman. 

Her  Services. 

Not  only  has  she  been  the  bearer  of  all  these  bur- 
dens and  the  discoverer  of  this  great  gift,  but  she  has 


10 


been  occupied  in  all  trades.  She  was  the  agriculturist; 
she  was  the  butcher  and  cook;  she  was  the  dressmaker; 
she  was  the  physician.  The  earliest  pharmacopoeia  con- 
sisted of  medicines  she  brewed  from  herbs.  She  was 
the  great  artist.  Hers  was  the  soul  which  impressed 
itself  upon  the  wood  and  stone  which  gave  man  his 
totems  and  his  idols,  and  the  child  its  dolls.  She  not 
only  invented  language,  but  she  was  its  conserver  and 
preserver.  As  the  little  child  clung  to  its  mother  she 
taught  it  to  speak  the  words  she  used,  and  these, 
handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  have  given 
us  our  modern  tongues.  She  was,  moreover,  society's 
founder.  She  insisted  that  man  should  provide  a  fixed 
habitation  and  abode  for  their  child  which  would  have 
perished  but  for  her  foresight  and  tender  solicitude  in 
its  behalf.  And  religion,  man's  highest  blessing, — true 
religion,  man's  most  helpful  civilizing  force, — has  ever 
been  the  gift  of  woman  to  man.  So  true  is  this  that, 
even  in  civilized  society  today,  "one  half  of  Christendom 
worships  a  Jew  and  the  other  half  worship  his  Jewish 
mother." 

Woman  as  Mother. 

Such  is  a  very  brief  summary  of  some  of  the  dis- 
tinguished services  man  received  at  the  hand  of  wo- 
man in  primitive  society.  But  what  shall  I  say  of  her 
in  her  closest  relations  to  the  members  of  the  household 
in  civilized  lands  and  ages?  What  shall  I  say  of  woman 
in  her  function  and  capacity  as  mother?  You  may  go 
where  you  will  and  you  will  never  find  another  quite 
like  a  mother.  When  a  mother  has  understood  her  true 


11 


office,  when  she  has  realized  that  she  represents  the 
centripetal  force,  when  she  fittingly  exercises  the  powers 
God  has  given  her,  when  she  impresses  her  soul  upon 
the  soul  of  her  child,  there  never  enters  our  life,  save 
God,  one  quite  so  close  to  us  as  our  mother.  Truly  may 
we  say  with  the  poet, 

"I  feel  that,  in  the  heavens  above, 

The  angels,  whispering  to  one  another, 
Can  find  among  their  burning  words  of  love, 
None  so  devotional  as  that  of  'mother.'  " 

We  are  told  by  a  rabbinical  writer  that  "God  would 
not  consent  to  dwell  upon  earth  and,  therefore,  he  sent 
mothers  to  take  His  place."  Discussing  home-life  one 
day  with  a  mother,  a  friend  said  to  her,  "I  would  give 
my  life  if  I  had  two  such  children  as  you  have;"  and 
the  mother  answered  very  truly,  "that's  just  what  it 
costs ;  a  life."  Our  mothers  have  been  our  inspiration, 
our  guide,  our  salvation.  Wherever  you  find  a  good 
man,  look  to  his  mother.  Whenever  you  would  marry, 
young  man  or  young  woman,  consider  the  mother  of 
the  individual  you  would  wed.  Wherever  you  find  a 
man  who  offers  his  life  for  the  progressive  cause  among 
men,  he  is  what  he  is,  in  the  last  analysis,  because  his 
mother  made  him  so.  There  is  no  occasion  in  life, 
whether  the  mother  be  living  or  dead,  when  her  beautiful 
spirit  does  not  urge  us  to  walk  the  straight  and  narrow 
path  of  virtue,  if  she  has  been  a  mother,  and  not  a  mere 
parent. 


12 


Woman  as  Sister. 

What  shall  I  say  of  woman  as  sister?  Not  without 
good  reason  does  God  send  into  the  home  children  of 
both  sexes.  The  influence  of  the  one  upon  the  other  is, 
beyond  all  question  of  doubt,  refining  and  strengthening; 
and  no  greater  wrong  is,  probably,  ever  done  to  a  child 
than  deliberately  to  limit  the  household  to  one  only 
child.  God  made  man  for  companionship,  and  no  one 
needs  a  companion  of  its  own  blood  and  age  more  than 
the  little  child. 

As  brother  and  sister  grow  side  by  side ;  as  they 
manifest,  on  the  one  hand,  strength,  and  on  the  other, 
grace ;  as  the  one  displays  the  tendency  to  go  away  from 
home,  while  the  other  develops  the  domestic  instincts; 
as  the  one  represents  the  centrifugal,  while  the  other 
embodies  the  centripetal  force;  and  as  these  forces, 
though  opposite  in  tendency,  mingle  and  balance  one 
another;  we  find  a  beautiful  blending  of  character  which 
always  augurs  well  for  self  and  society.  Thus  it  hap- 
pens that  many  a  man  owes  more  to  his  sister  than  he 

_> 

readily  realizes. 

The  helpfulness  of  sisters  to  brothers  is  historic. 
We  have  already  heard  this  morning  of  Miriam  and 
Moses,  and  the  relation  of  these  is  typical.  In  recent 
times  we  know  that  we  cannot  read  the  life  of  Felix 
Mendelssohn  without  realizing  that  his  sister  Fanny  was 
his  guiding  influence.  We  cannot  yield  ourselves  to  the 
sway  of  Ernest  Renan  without  readily  learning  that  his 
sister  Henrietta  was  the  inspiration  of  his  life.  It  is  still 


difficult  to  decide,  when  we  read  the  works  of  Charles 
Lamb,  how  much  is  the  contribution  of  this  poor, 
unfortunate  man,  or  how  much  is  due  to  his  sister  Mary. 
William  Hershel  without  his  sister  Caroline  would  have 
been  as  a  right  hand  without  a  left.  William  Words- 
worth pays  loving  tribute  to  his  sister  Dorothy  with 
whom  he  was  bound  in  life  and  unseparated  in  death. 
Beneath  the  yew  trees,  hard  by  the  mountain  stream,  the 
poet's  body  reposes  in  the  Grasmere  cemetery,  his  sister 
reposing  in  eternal  rest  at  his  side.  Truly  said  of  her 
one  who  understood  all  that  she  had  been  to  her  brother: 

"Only  a  sister's  part, — yes,  that  was  all; 

And  yet  her  life  was  full  and  bright  and  free. 
She  did  not  feel,  'I  give  up  all  for  him'; 

She  only  knew,  'Tis  mine  his  friend  to  be.' 

So  what  she  saw  and  felt  the  poet  sang — 

She  did  not  seek  the  world  should  know  her  share, 

Her  one  great  hunger  was  for  William's  fame, 
To  give  his  thoughts  a  voice  her  life-long  prayer." 

Woman  as  Wife. 

What  shall  I  say  of  woman  as  wife?  Devoted,  self- 
sacrificing,  true,  loyal  companion  of  man!  Rarely  has 
a  man  risen  in  this  world  but  his  wife  has  been  the  in- 
spiration aiding  him  upward.  Rarely  do  you  find  a  man 
giving  his  life  to  God,  to  humanity,  to  society;  rarely 
do  you  find  him  consecrate  all  his  powers  for  the  good 
of  others;  but  you  find  that  he  has  had  a  companion 
passing  through  life  with  him  who  has  inspired  it, 


14 


quietly,  invisibly,  but  most  surely.  The  names  of  the 
men  are  legion  who  may  truly  say  with  Bismarck,  who 
in  his  last  work  paid  such  high  tribute  to  his  life  com- 
panion, "What  I  am,  I  owe  to  my  wife."  What,  too, 
shall  I  say  of  woman  as  daughter?  I  think  that,  gen- 
erally speaking,  where  fathers  and  mothers  have  been 
wise,  the  attitude  of  pious  Antigone,  leading  her  father 
Oedipus  from  country  to  country,  patiently  bearing  his 
sorrows  and  nobly  seeking  to  sustain  and  nourish  him, 
represents  the  typical  service  of  the  true  daughter  of  the 
true  father  and  mother. 

Woman  as  Friend. 

But  braver  yet,  because  the  more  unselfish,  has  she 
been,  and  as  sweet  service  has  she  rendered  to  humanity, 
in  the  capacity  as  friend.  Oh,  I  know  that  woman's 
friendship  is  frequently  doubted.  There  are  men  who 
are  as  cynical  concerning  it  as  they  are  unclean  in  their 
lives ;  but  it  is  the  testimony  of  mankind's  noblest  sons 
that  the  friendship  of  woman  has  inspirited  them,  as  it 
is  the  witness  of  history  that  woman's  sweet  friendship 
for  man  has  earned  for  humanity  much  of  his  best  and 
noblest  effort.  If  every  man  who  has  achieved  fame;  if 
every  man  who  is  today  toiling  for  human  good ;  if  every 
man  who  still  has  faith  in  his  fellowman ;  might  name 
some  of  the  potent  influences  moving  him  to  labor  and 
to  serve,  he  would  place  in  a  prominent  position  the  in- 
spiration that  has  come  into  his  life  from  the  friendship 
of  good  women.  As  it  was  a  princess  who  befriended 
Moses,  the  emancipator  of  mankind ;  as  it  was  the 
humble  Mary  and  Martha  who  stood  by  their  revered 


15 


leader,  supporting  and  adoring;  so  has  it  ever  been 
friendly  women,  of  noble  or  humble  birth,  who  have 
helped  to  drive  out  the  brute  from  man  and  to  evoke 
the  godlike  from  within  him.  Of  woman  as  friend  we 
may  justly  sing: 

"This  sad  old  earth's  a  brighter  place  ' 
All  for  the  sunshine  of  her  face; 
Her  very  smile  a  blessing  throws, 
And  hearts  are  happier  where  she  goes; 
A  gentle,  clear-eyed  messenger, 
To  whisper  love, — thank  God  for  her." 

Woman's  Loving  Devotion. 

Xever  forget  that  about  Moses  was  the  devotion  of 
Jochebed ;  behind  Goethe  was  Katharina,  his  mother; 
behind  Washington  stood  the  charming  Mary  Ball; 
above  and  around  Lincoln  was  the  sainted  spirit  of  Nancy 
llanks.  Samuel  was  the  spiritual,  as  well  as  physical, 
product  of  Hannah,  while  in  David  was  the  blood  of 
Ruth.  Remember  that  Cornelia,  mother  of  the  Gracchi, 
when  asked  where  were  her  jewels,  pointed  to  her  sons. 
You  \\ill  find  that  for  every  Praxiteles,  there  has  been  an 
Aspasia;  for  every  Phidias  there  was  a  Sappho;  for 
everv  Apelles  there  has  been  some  inspiring  woman. 
Y<>u  cannot  turn  the  pages  of  history  but  you  will  find 
inscribed  athwart  them  a  tribute  of  loving  devotion  in 
the  form  of  a  divine  service,  rendered  by  this  noble  char- 
acter, woman,  who  has  ever  guided  at  the  same  time  two 
generations  of  man.  In  our  own  day,  when  woman  is 
coming  into  the  possession  of  her  own,  women's  names 


16 


shine  like  stars  in  a  clear  sky.  In  the  Pantheon  of  man- 
kind's immortals  Florence  Nightingale  and  Frances  Wil- 
lard,  Lucretia  Mott  and  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  Augusta 
Stanley  and  Mary  Lyon,  are  aureoled  and  crowned.  In 
the  humbler  positions  which  woman  has  occupied,  where 
she  has  ministered  in  the  lowlier  ranks  of  life,  she  has 
proved  herself  a  ministering  angel  to  man,  realizing  in 
herself  the  truth  that  "they  also  serve  who  only  stand 
and  wait." 

Animality  vs.  Spirituality. 

Have  I  made  it  clear  that  we  who  are  men  are  under 
great  tribute  to  woman?  Have  I  sufficiently  indicated 
this  morning  that  there  is  scarce  a  benefit  which  man 
has  derived  from  society  but,  in  the  ultimate,  he  owes 
it  to  woman?  Is  it,  therefore,  surprising  that,  when  man 
is  civilized  and  is  in  his  best  moods,  he  thanks  woman 
who  has  been  mother,  sister,  wife,  daughter,  friend.  Two 
characteristics  there  are  in  us  all  which,  in  the  last  analy- 
sis, determine  what  the  man  is  to  be,  what  the  woman 
shall  become.^  The  one  force  is  that  which  man  has  in 
common  with  the  brute  beast,  or  animality ;  the  other  is 
the  divine  power  with  which  God  has  endowed  us,  and 
is  called  spirituality.  Animality  leads  to  destruction, 
war,  brutality ;  spirituality,  to  all  the  refining  influences 
and  graces.  Not  without  good  reason  has  man  repre- 
sented all  the  virtues  under  the  guise  of  woman.  The 
greatest  temple  reared  in  Greece  was  the  Parthenon, 
erected  to  Minerva,  and  in  the  Pantheons  of  the  world 
we  ever  find  genius  bowing  to  some  goddess. 


17 


In  our  day  one  of  our  most  pressing  duties  is  our 
decision  whether  we  shall  permit  animality  or  spiritual- 
ity to  be  in  control;  whether  we  are  to  treat  woman  as 
though  she  were  a  mere  beast,  a  toy,  a  plaything;  or 
whether,  out  of  the  love  we  have  for  her,  we  shall  recog- 
nize the  unspeakably  great  service  she  has  rendered 
mankind  and  give  expression  to  our  appreciation  of  them 
as  the  writer  of  the  Rook  of  Proverbs  would  have  us  do. 
Is  it  not  true  that  if  we  but  give  her  the  fruit  of  her  hands, 
her  own  works  will  praise  her  in  the  gates? 

The  Need  of  Homes. 

Tt  is  a  joy  to  me,  the  son  of  a  woman,  the  husband 
of  a  woman,  the  brother  of  a  woman,  the  father  of  a 
woman,  and  the  friend  of  a  woman, — it  is  a  joy  to  me 
to  see  that  woman  has  determined  to  throw  off  the  yoke 
of  animality  with  which  man  would  keep  her  as  a  slave. 
For  the  love  of  woman  I  do  plead  with  you  that  you  aid 
in  every  way  to  give  her  the  opportunity  to  assert  her- 
self according  to  the  gifts  and  endowments  with  which 
Cod  has  graced  her.  I  urge  you,  as  earnestly  and  serious- 
ly as  T  can,  to  provide  homes  for  our  women.  Now  by 
homes  T  do  not  mean  the  magnificent  houses  I  constantly 
see  being  built  in  Pittsburgh  and  elsewhere,  for  many 
such  a  house  is  but  a  magnificent  sty  for  the  hogs  that 
live  therein. 

One  Standard  of  Morality. 

T  would  have  every  man,  who  realizes  that  he  has 
within  him  the  divine  power  of  a  creator,  build  for  his 


18 


family  a  sweet  home,  and  upon  its  doorpost  and  upon  its 
gates  there  should  be  inscribed  the  assertion  that  the 
same  standard  of  morality  is  demanded  of  every  man  in 
that  home  as  of  every  woman.  In  that  home  let  it  be 
clearly  understood  that  each  man  shall  keep  himself  as 
clean  and  as  pure  as  he  expects  each  woman  to  be.  Some 
day,  perhaps,  the  son  and  daughter  will  leave  that  home 
to  be  united  in  holy  matrimony.  Let  the  man  then  go 
to  his  wife  with  body  and  mind  and  soul  as  clean  and 
as  pure  as  he  demands  that  his  wife  shall  come  to  him ! 
Let  the  young  woman  take  in  her  embrace  no  man  who  is 
a  brute,  no  man  whom  she  must,  when  she  understands 
life,  hate  and  look  upon  with  disgust  and  scorn.  For 
when  the  prose  of  life  succeeds  the  days  of  honeymoon 
poetry,  woman  will  find  happiness  with  none  except  the 
man  whom  she  can,  in  her  heart  of  hearts,  respect  and 
love  as  her  equal  in  chastity  as  in  other  fine  elements  of 
character. 

The  Modern  Conscious  Sin. 

Our  forebears  may  be  pardoned  for  many  mistakes 
committed  through  their  limited  knowledge  or  ignor- 
ance of  nature's  laws.  We  have  not  their  excuse.  Cer- 
tain medical  facts  are  as  patent  to  us  as  daylight.  In 
the  matter  of  matrimonial  alliances,  therefore,  we  must 
exercise  more  care  than  did  our  progenitors,  since  we 
know  what  is  involved  more  clearly  than  they  did.  Let 
us  not  cry  out  against  God,  let  us  not  blaspheme  His 
holy  name,  if,  knowing  what  we  do,  we  exercise  no 
vigilance  in  this  most  important  step  our  children  are 
to  take,  and  if,  within  a  brief  period  of  marriage,  the  in- 


19 


nocent  maid  is  crippled  and  diseased  because  she  was 
sold  to  some  man  who  bought  and  paid  for  her.  I  know 
of  nothing  which  hurts  me  more  than  the  easy-going 
transference  of  human  responsibility,  lightly  made  by 
man,  from  his  shoulders  to  God.  Sickness,  disease, 
death  enter  the  household,  and  the  mourners  or  sufferers 
blame  God  and  speak  of  ''the  awful  providence,"  while 
we  know  that,  all  too  often,  what  is  attributed  to  God 
is  our  own  fault.  Many  a  poor,  suffering  woman, 
blighted  by  disease,  has  no  one  to  thank  for  it  but  her 
own  husband  who  polluted  her  body  in  marriage. 

Learn  in  time  that  such  social  crimes  must  not  be 
tolerated  and  make  proper  provision  to  have  them  pre- 
vented. For  the  love  of  woman  keep  her  body  clean. 
It  is  the  Temple  of  life.  From  it  must  come  the  future 
generations.  Through  it  must  pass  the  spirit  of  God 
finding  expression  in  human  forms.  See  to  it,  for  the  love 
<>f  woman,  that  the  origin  of  life  be  not  foul  at  its  very 
source. 

Economic  Independence. 

Moreover,  if  we  love  woman  as  we  say  we  do,  we 
shall  aid  her  to  become  independent.  No  greater  econo- 
mic crime  was  ever  committed  against  her  than  to  keep 
her  dependent  on  the  man  who  doled  out  to  her  the  means 
of  her  economic  life.  I  thank  God  that  I  live  in  the 
twentieth  century  when  woman  is  asserting  herself  as 
never  before,  when  the  cold-hearted  and  unjust  criticism 
of  the  self-helping  woman  is  no  longer  valid,  and  when 
to  be  an  "old  maid"  no  longer  brings  opprobrium.  In 


20 


America,  at  least,  as  it  is  honorable  for  a  man  to  work 
for  a  livelihood,  so  is  it  no  less  honorable  for  a  woman. 
Fathers  are  foolish  when  they  fail  to  develop  this  sense 
of  independence  in  their  daughters,  so  that  unable  to  sup- 
port themselves,  they  feel  they  must  accept  the  first  man 
who  proposes  to  take  them  and  provide  for  them.  Why 
this  is  the  sin  of  the  red-light  district  that  women  there 
sell  their  bodies  that  they  may  be  supported!  Is  it  not 
true  that,  in  many  a  house  elsewhere,  a  similar  contract 
is  signed  between  man  and  woman,  and  in  what  is  called 
marriage,  there  is  little  else  than  sale  and  barter? 

.'•'.'  :i  -J 
Political  Independence. 

Not  only  should  we  exercise  care  that  such  mons- 
trous influences  be  not  permitted  to  continue,  but  we 
must  place  the  weapon  in  woman's  own  hands  to  limit 
the  period  during  which  such  powers  of  evil  may  dom- 
inate her  life.  \Yoman  is  man's  equal  and  is  expected, 
in  this  age,  to  do  for  society,  in  her  way,  as  much,  yea 

more  than  man.     Unaided  by  the  influence  which  comes 

^  j 

from  the  means  of  expressing  her  will  through  political 
machinery,  she  will  always  toil  at  a  disadvantage.  The 
ballot  is  hers  by  the  right  of  service  and  humanity.  Her 
economic  independence  is  impossible  without  it,  and  we 
should  do  all  we  can  to  speed  the  day  when  she  may  add 
the  weight  of  her  ideas  and  ideals  to  political  life.  I 
have  no  fear  of  the  contaminating  influence  of  "the  dirty 
pool  of  politics"  on  women.  If  that  pool  is  ever  going 
to  be  cleansed  thoroughly,  woman  will  be  the  most 
powerful  agent  in  the  cause. 


21 


Religion's  Help. 

Finally,  for  the  love  of  woman,  I  beg  you  to  add 
your  influence  to  the  liberal  cause  in  the  world  of  re- 
ligion. The  church  holds  that  it  alone  has  given  woman 
an  exalted  place  in  society.  I  am  not  disposed  to  quarrel 
today  with  such  a  statement.  The  facts  of  the  case  are 
so  transparently  opposed  to  the  boastful  utterances  of 
many  church  dignitaries  that  I  shall  merely  register  my 
protest.  I  know,  as  some  of  you  do  also,  that  woman 
has  gained  much  from  religion,  but  not  quite  so  much 
from  its  administrators.  Liberal  religion,  however,  would 
restore  to  woman  her  prestige  as  a  religious  force.  She 
first  turned  man's  mind  and  soul  to  religion;  let  us  so 
direct  the  religious  sentiment  that  it  serve  her  best  ends, 
and  thus  society's  highest  aims.  In  a  word,  out  of  the 
love  we  have  for  woman,  let  us  place  ourselves  in  the 
position  of  supporters  of  every  cause  that  may  gain  for 
her  a  rightful  expression  of  her  ability,  her  character  and 
her  virtues.  I  am  sure  that,  if  we  but  give  her  of  the  fruit 
of  her  hands,  we  shall  find  that  the  writer  of  the  Book  of 
Proverbs  was  right  when  he  said,  "her  own  works  will 
praise  her  in  the  gates." 


22 


UNIV.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 


vVlOS  ANGELA 

~  .^.        ,—  -v    -  ^^^^k  * 


y  o     UL. 

X    =C          CP 
m^ 


t_3 
^          5 

-t-;        oo 
=-J          O 

^       >i 


V 


~      <c 


A     000  072  484     9 


f 


